JP7109448B2 - dynamic spacebar - Google Patents

Description

FIELD This specification relates to computer input devices.

BACKGROUND A laptop computer has a screen that is connected to a keyboard via a hinge. When the user types a key on the keyboard, the corresponding letter appears on the screen. In a device with only a screen, such as a mobile phone or a tablet terminal, the screen displays a different touch keyboard depending on the application running on the device and the state of the application.

Overview When typing on a touch keyboard, the user may be prone to mistakes because the keyboard does not include three-dimensional mechanical keys that allow the user to grasp the keyboard layout when not looking at the keyboard. With a touch keyboard, even if the user intended to select the spacebar, they were not looking at the keyboard and could not feel the location of the spacebar, so the adjacent trackpad (directly below the spacebar) ) may be selected. This can confuse users because the cursor does not advance when they are at the end of a word, even though they think they have selected the spacebar. If the trackpad selection had moved the cursor somewhere on the screen, the user would have to reposition the cursor to the correct position.

To solve this problem, computing devices with touch keyboards may dynamically adjust the size of the spacebar effective area to include the portion of the trackpad located directly below the spacebar. A computing device may adjust the size of the spacebar effective area based on the context of the computing device. For example, if the user is typing and at the end of a complete word, the computing device may increase the size of the spacebar effective area. In this case, the user is more likely to select the spacebar rather than the trackpad. Similarly, if the user is typing and the current word is incomplete, the computing device may not extend the size of the spacebar effective area beyond the spacebar. In this case, the user is less likely to select the spacebar than if the current word were complete.

According to innovative aspects of the inventive subject matter described herein, a method for implementing a dynamic spacebar is provided by a computing device including a touchscreen keyboard and trackpad that determines the context of the computing device. , the act of accepting touch input on the trackpad, and the computing device identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a selection of the spacebar of a touchscreen keyboard based on the pre-determined context of the computing device. and an act of providing an indication of the spacebar selection based on the action and the computing device identifying the touch input on the trackpad as the spacebar selection for output to the computing device display. including.

These and other implementations may each optionally include one or more of the following features. The act of determining the context of the computing device includes determining that the complete word precedes the cursor position. The act of identifying a touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection on a touchscreen keyboard is further based on determining that a complete word is in front of the cursor. The act of determining the context of the computing device includes determining that a touch input on the trackpad is a tap operation rather than a drag operation. The act of identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a selection of the spacebar of the touchscreen keyboard is further based on determining that the touch input on the trackpad is a tap operation rather than a drag operation. The act of determining the context of the computing device includes determining that the user's finger is touching a predetermined number of home keys of the touch screen keyboard. The act of identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection of the touchscreen keyboard is further determining that the user's finger is touching a predetermined number of home keys of the touchscreen keyboard. based on.

The act of determining the context of the computing device includes determining that the user's palm on one side of the trackpad is touching a portion of the touchscreen keyboard. The action of identifying touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection on the touchscreen keyboard also determines that the user's palm is touching a portion of the touchscreen keyboard on one side of the trackpad. based on Touchscreen keyboards and trackpads are identified by outlines shown on the touch input device. The computing device display and touch input device are separate. The touchscreen keyboard draws an image of the spacebar. The act of accepting touch input on the trackpad includes not accepting touch input at locations within the rendered image of the spacebar. The drawn spacebar image is adjacent to and below the drawn spacebar image. The actions include determining additional context of the computing device, accepting additional touch input on the trackpad, and determining whether the additional touch input on the trackpad is selected based on the additional context. and that the computing device determined that further touch input on the trackpad would select the trackpad for output to the computing device display. Further includes the act of providing the indication.

Based on the act of accepting another touch input on the spacebar and the computing device identifying further touch input on the trackpad as a selection of the trackpad, another touch on the spacebar. Based on the action of identifying an input as a trackpad selection and the computing device identifying another touch input on the spacebar as a trackpad selection for output to the computing device display. and providing a further indication of the trackpad selection. The act of determining the context of the computing device includes determining that the word prefix is in front of the cursor. The act of identifying a further touch input on the trackpad as a trackpad selection is further based on determining that the word prefix is in front of the cursor. The action is an operation associated with a touchscreen gesture based on receiving touch input on the trackpad and based on the computing device identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection. further includes the act of not performing

Other implementations of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on computer storage devices, each configured to perform those operations included in the method.

The inventive subject matter described in this application may have one or more of the following advantages. The computing device dynamically adjusts the effective area corresponding to the spacebar in response to determining that the user is likely to select the spacebar so that the user is less likely to provide unintended user input. adjust to A dynamic keyboard may be located on the touch surface, which allows the keyboard to be thin. A touch keyboard reduces the need for mechanical components, makes the device less expensive to manufacture, and makes the keyboard less prone to failure.

The details of one or more implementations of the inventive subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example computing device with a dynamic spacebar; FIG. 3 illustrates an example computing device with a dynamic spacebar; FIG. 2 illustrates an example system for implementing a dynamic spacebar; FIG. 10 illustrates an example process for implementing a dynamic spacebar; 1 illustrates an example computing device and a mobile computing device; FIG.

Like reference numbers denote corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary computing device 105 with a dynamic spacebar. Briefly, as described in more detail below, the computing device 105 uses the context of the computing device 105 to determine whether a touch input made near the spacebar is a selection of the spacebar or a track. Determine pad selection.

As shown in FIG. 1, system 100 includes two instances of computing device 105 . Computing devices 105a and 105b show a user keying in the sentence "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." Computing device 105a shows computing device 105 in the middle of a user keying in the word "over." Computing device 105b shows computing device 105 where the user has finished keying in the word "over."

Computing device 105 is a hinged device with screen 110 on one side of hinge 115 and keyboard 120 and trackpad 125 on the other side of hinge 115 . Hinge 115 may be configured to rotate 360 degrees such that screen 110 faces keyboard 120 when closed, or screen 110 and keyboard 125 face outward. Instead of mechanical keys that move up and down and activate when the user presses a key, the keyboard 120 and trackpad 125 may be on the touch surface. The touch surface may be a resistive touch surface or a capacitive touch surface. To key in the word "fox," the user presses areas of the touch surface corresponding to the letters "f," "o," and "x."

In some implementations, the keyboard 120 keys and trackpad 125 locations may be painted or printed on the touch surface. In this example, the layout of keyboard 120 and trackpad 125 may not change when the user interacts with computing device 105 or when computing device 105 is folded. The painted keyboard 120 and trackpad 125 remain visible even when the computing device 105 is powered off. In some implementations, the positions of the keyboard 120 keys and trackpad 125 may be displayed on the touch surface using a display device. For example, the touch surface may be a touch screen that includes an LCD display for displaying the positions of keyboard 120 keys and trackpad 125 . In this example, the keyboard 120 keys and trackpad 125 positions may appear when the power is turned on. In some implementations, the positions of the keyboard 120 keys and trackpad 125 may appear only if the angle of the hinge 115 is within a certain range. If the hinge angle is 0 degrees when screen 110 faces keyboard 120, if the hinge angle is 360 degrees when screen 110 and keyboard 125 face outward, for example, hinge 115 is 10 degrees. The positions of keyboard 120 keys and trackpad 125 may only appear if they are between degrees and 270 degrees. In this manner, computing device 105 may present keys only when computing device 105 is not closed and not in "tablet" mode.

Because keyboard 120 does not include mechanical components, the portion of computing device 105 that includes keyboard 120 and trackpad 125 may be thinner than other laptop computers. In addition, the elimination of mechanical components eliminates the possibility of mechanical failure of the keyboard 120, which may facilitate cleaning and improve water resistance. The layout of the keyboard 120 could easily be changed if the touch surface included a display. For example, computing device 105 may change the layout of keyboard 120 to a layout for a different language, or change the display to display other designs.

Another result of keyboard 120 being a flat touch surface is that the user can determine which keys the user's fingers are on or touching without looking at keyboard 120 . may not be possible. In some implementations, keyboard 120 may include one or more raised elements on keyboard 120 that allow a user to place their hands in the correct position when placing them on keyboard 120 . good. Additionally, the computing device 120 may be able to adjust the size of the keys of the keyboard 120 or the size of the trackpad 125 according to different contexts. In this example, keyboard 120 may look the same. Alternatively, when selected, the size of the area of spacebar 130 that corresponds to or results in the selection of spacebar 130 may expand or contract. Similarly, computing device 105 may adjust the effective area of other keys or trackpad 125 based on the context of the device.

In the illustrated example of computing device 105a, user's hands 135a rest on keyboard 120a. The user's finger 140a rests on a home key 145a, such as "a s d f" for the left hand and "j k l ;" for the right hand. As used herein, "fingers" refers collectively to the index, middle, ring and pinky fingers and excludes the thumb. The user's thumb 150 a may rest on the spacebar 130 . The user's palm 155a may rest on palm rest 160a.

Computing device 105a is running a text entry application, such as a word processing application or an email application. A text input application is running in the foreground and the text input application appears on screen 110a. Other applications may be running in the background, such as system applications and other user applications such as browsers, photo editors, video editors, or other similar applications. On the computing device 105a, the user has keyed in the text 165a "the quick brown fox jumped ov". Computing device 105a determines the context of computing device 105a. Context may be based on a portion of text 165a on screen 110a.

The context may be that the cursor is positioned at the end of an incomplete word such as "ov". In this example, since the user is keying in and the cursor is positioned at the end of the incomplete word, there is no possibility that the user will press the spacebar 130a. The context may be based on the position of the user's finger 140a. Since the user's finger 140a is resting on the home key 145a, the user is likely to be in a keying position and therefore likely to press the spacebar 130a. The context may be based on the position of the user's palm 155a. Since the user's palm 155a is located on the palmrest 160a, the user is likely to be in a keying position and is more likely to press the spacebar 130a than to interact with the touchpad.

Computing device 105a may weight each of these aforementioned contexts to determine the overall context. In this example, the computing device 105a may weight the text and cursor position on the screen more heavily than the position of the user's palm 155a and/or the position of the user's finger 140a. In some implementations, because keyboard 120a is a touch input device, the user can only rest palm 155a on the effective area of the input device, such as palm rest 160a. In this case, computing device 105a may not be able to determine the position of user's finger 140a. In some implementations, a touch input device may be able to detect the pressure of various touches. In this example, the user may be able to place finger 140a on home key 145a without activating the key. The user may be able to increase the pressure to activate the key. In some implementations, a touch input device may be able to detect the presence of a finger, palm, or other hand part. In this example, the user may not touch the touch input device directly, but instead may be within a threshold distance of the touch input device where the touch input device can detect the user's presence. In some implementations, any functionality realized by touch may be realized by presence.

Based on the context of the computing device 105a being related to the user keying in and being in the middle of a word, the computing device 105a displays the outlined space on the touch input device. Maintain the spacebar effective area 170a to the size and shape of the bar 130a. In this example, to enter space, the user selects spacebar 130a by contacting the touch surface within the area delineated by spacebar 130a. If the user contacts a touch surface in an area outside spacebar 130a, such as trackpad 125a, computing device 105a interprets this input as input for trackpad 125a.

Computing device 105b shows computing device 105b after the user has finished keying in the word "over." In this example, since the user is keying in and the cursor is positioned at the end of a complete word, the user may press spacebar 130b. The context may be based on the position of the user's finger 140b. With the user's finger 140b resting on the home key 145b, the user is likely to be in the keying position, so the space is greater than if the user's finger 140b was not resting on the home key. It is likely that the bar 130b will be pushed. The context may be based on the position of the user's palm 155b. Since the user's palm 155b is positioned over palm rest 160b, the user is likely in a keying position and is likely to press space bar 130b.

Computing device 105b may weight each of these determined contexts differently to determine the overall context. In this example, the computing device 105b may weight the text and cursor position on the screen more, less, or equal to the position of the user's palm 155b and/or the user's finger 140b. Based on the context of computing device 105b being relevant to the user keying in and being at the end of a word, computing device 105b causes spacebar effective area 170b to be displayed on the touch input device as larger than the size and shape of spacebar 130b outlined in . In this example, to enter a space, the user selects the area delineated by active area 170b, which includes spacebar 130a and a portion of trackpad 125b. If the user selects an area outside of the active area 170b, such as a portion of the trackpad 125a below the active area 170b, the computing device 105b determines that the input on the trackpad 125b (e.g., moving the mouse cursor or by providing a mouse cursor "click").

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary computing device 205 with a dynamic spacebar. Briefly, as described in more detail below, computing device 205 uses the context of computing device 205 to determine whether a touch input made near the spacebar is a spacebar selection or a trackpad. to determine whether it is a choice of

The configuration of computing device 205 is similar to that of computing device 105 . Screen 210 is hinged to a touch input device comprising keyboard 220 and trackpad 225 . Spacebar effective area 270 is a dynamic area, changing with the context of the computing device. For example, spacebar effective area 270 includes a portion of trackpad 225 if the context includes an incomplete word before the cursor. If the context includes a complete word before the cursor, spacebar-enabled area 270 only includes the spacebar.

Computing device 205a shows computing device 205a after the user has keyed in the complete or incomplete word "jump." "Jump" may be followed by a suffix such as "ed" and "jump" may be complete. In this example, computing device 205a may adjust spacebar effective area 170a to include a portion of trackpad 225 based on more than just the integrity of the word in front of the cursor. good. Further determining factors for determining context are whether the user's finger 240a is positioned on (or within a determined distance of) the home key 245a and/or whether the user's palm 255a is positioned on the palm rest 260a. It may be based on what you are doing. Using one or both of these factors in combination with the uncertainty of whether a "jump" is complete or incomplete, computing device 205a allows the user to press spacebar instead of trackpad 225a. 230a is likely to be selected. Accordingly, computing device 205a may extend spacebar effective area 270a to include the top of trackpad 225a.

In extended spacebar effective area 270a, the user may select the top of trackpad 225a, which computing device 205a interprets as selecting spacebar 230a. In this example, the user's thumb 250a selects the bottom of trackpad 225a. Because the selection of trackpad 225a occurred below extended spacebar effective area 270a, computing device 205a interprets this selection as a selection of trackpad 225a. One of the factors used to determine the size of spacebar effective area 270 may be whether the most recent input was on trackpad 225a. Thus, after user selection of trackpad 225, computing device 205 may reduce the size of spacebar effective area 270 relative to the size of spacebar effective area 270 prior to user selection of trackpad 225a. good.

Computing device 205b shows computing device 205b after the user has keyed in the incomplete word "th". Computing device 205b adjusts the spacebar effective area to include only spacebar 230b, based on the fact that the user is less likely to select spacebar 230b while in the middle of an incomplete word such as "th." 270a may be adjusted. A further factor for determining context may be based on the user's finger 240b being positioned on the home key 245b and/or the user's palm 255b being positioned on the palm rest 260b. Using one or both of these factors in combination with the determination that recent user input provided an incomplete word "th", computing device 205b may use keyboard 220b, including spacebar 230b and trackpad 225b. If the user selects a portion, it may be determined that there is a high probability that the user intends to select trackpad 225b. Accordingly, computing device 205b may set spacebar effective area 270b to include only spacebar 230b (or smaller than the area indicated by printed or virtual graphics representing spacebar 230b). .

If spacebar effective area 270b only includes spacebar 230b, the user may select the top of trackpad 225b, which computing device 205b interprets as selecting trackpad 225a. . In this example, the user's thumb 250b selects the top of trackpad 225b. The top of trackpad 225b may be included in spacebar effective area 270b, depending on the context. Because this selection is within the area of trackpad 225b and spacebar effective area 270b only includes spacebar 230b, computing device 205b interprets this selection as a selection of trackpad 225b.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary system 300 for implementing dynamic spacebars. System 300 shows various components of a system with a dynamic spacebar. For example, system 300 may be similar to computing device 105 of FIG. 1 or computing device 205 of FIG. In some implementations, system 300 may be any device with a touch screen input device, such as a mobile phone, tablet, or similar device.

System 300 includes touch detector 305 . The touch detector 305 is configured to detect the position and pressure of touches received by the touch input device. The touch input device may be a capacitive touch device or a resistive touch device. The touch detection unit 305 outputs a start point and an end point for each touch event. In addition, the touch detection unit 305 outputs the touch pressure at each position of the touch event. When the user simultaneously touches different positions on the screen, the touch detection unit 305 may output touch data for each position. For example, the user may touch one location on the touch input device, drag the finger to another location, and lift the finger from the touch input device. In this example, the touch detection unit 305 outputs data indicating the path of the user's finger and data indicating the pressure of the touch along the path. In cases where the touch may be larger than a finger, such as the palm of the hand, the touch detector 305 may output the area where the user touches the touch input device and the pressure at each location within this area.

The touch detector provides touch data to touch interpreter 310 . The touch interpreter 310 interprets this touch data and determines the operation that the user interface generator 315 outputs for display. Touch interpreter 310 accepts data from several modules and uses data from these modules to improve the interpretation of touch data.

Touch interpreter 310 also utilizes finger position identifier 320 and palm position identifier 325 to determine the positions of the fingers, thumb, and palm based on the received touch data. For example, touch detector 305 may provide the coordinates of the location of the touch, the corresponding pressure, and the size of the touch. Finger locator 320 may compare position, pressure, and size to various touch ranges and thresholds to determine whether the touch was a finger or a thumb. Similarly, palm locator 325 may compare position, pressure, and size to various touch ranges and thresholds to determine whether the touch was with the palm. In some implementations, touch interpreter 310 receives sufficient data from finger locator 320 and palm locator 325 to determine the position of the user's hand by identifying each of the fingers, palm, and thumb. may be specified. In some implementations, the touch interpreter may identify each finger, palm, and thumb using different distance ranges and thresholds. In some implementations, the finger labels, palm labels, and thumb labels may each include a confidence score that indicates, for example, the likelihood that the touch corresponds to the thumb. Touch interpreter 310 may compare confidence scores to various thresholds and ranges when determining operations and commands to provide to user interface generator 315 .

In some implementations, finger locator 320 and palm locator 325 may calculate hand and finger angles in addition to or instead of hand and finger positions. For example, finger locator 320 and palm locator 325 calculate that the angle between the user's hands as measured along the axis that intersects each of the middle finger and palm pairs is 60 degrees. may As another example, the reference lines for these angles may be defined by the lines that intersect the palm of the right hand, the middle finger of the right hand, and the middle finger of the left hand, and the lines that intersect the palm of the left hand and the middle finger of the left hand. good.

Touch interpreter 310 accepts data from keyboard/trackpad layout module 330 . The keyboard/trackpad layout module 330 provides data regarding the layout of keyboards and trackpads on touch input devices. Keyboard/trackpad layout module 330 provides the same data to touch interpreter 310 when the keyboard and trackpad are painted on the touch input device. If the keyboard and trackpad are dynamic, keyboard/trackpad layout module 330 provides data indicating the position of each of the keys on the keyboard and the position of the trackpad. This position data may include the coordinates of each of the keys and the trackpad. Keyboard/trackpad layout module 330 may also provide the language that the keyboard layout supports. If a keyboard is not displayed on the touch input device, keyboard/trackpad layout module 330 may provide data to touch interpreter 310 indicating so.

Touch interpreter 310 receives context data from context identifier 335 . The context identifier identifies the context of system 300 . Touch interpreter 310 analyzes context data, touch data, and keyboard data to determine operations and instructions to provide to user interface generator 315 . In some implementations, context identifier 335 may generate context data based at least in part on language model 340 . Language model 340 includes vocabularies for various languages. The context identifier 335 may compare the text on the screen of the system 300 with terms contained in the vocabulary. If the user is keying and the term currently being keyed in corresponds to a prefix of a term in the vocabulary, the context identifier 335 determines that keying the word is the context. may be identified. In this example, the word prefix should be taken to mean the beginning of the word, but not the complete word itself. In the alternative, the word prefix is part of the word and not the complete word. For example, the user may have keyed in "jum" and the cursor is positioned after the "m". Context identifier 335 may compare the term “jum” to the vocabulary contained in language model 340 . The context identifier 335 determines that "jum" is an incomplete word and provides the context to the touch interpreter 310 to key in the word. In some implementations, the language of system 300 may be set to a specific language. In this example, the context identifier 335 need only compare the keyed-in terms with the language model corresponding to the selected language to generate the context data.

In some implementations, the context identifier 335 may generate context data based at least in part on the current process 345 running on the system 300 . Current processes 340 may include one or more foreground processes 350 and background processes. Some of the background and possibly foreground processes may include system processes. Some of the foreground processes 350 and background processes may include user applications, such as browser applications, email applications, word processing applications, photo editing applications, and other similar user applications. These processes may also include web processes running on a server via a browser. The context identifier 335 examines the current process 345 and the foreground process 350 and generates context data based on the processes. For example, the context data may be a web email application running in a browser in the foreground and a music player running in the background. As another example, the context data may be a photo editor running in the foreground, or a word processing application running in the foreground.

Also, in some implementations, current process 345 and foreground process 350 may provide data regarding the position of the mouse pointer and/or cursor. For example, the cursor position in a word processing application may be at the end of a "jum". The current process 345 may provide data to the context identifier 335 describing the cursor position after "jum". As another example, the mouse pointer may be positioned on the scroll bar of the browser window. The current process 345 may provide data describing the position of the mouse pointer in the browser window's scroll bar. In some implementations, the location of the mouse pointer may be specified by a coordinate pair.

Context identifier 335 provides context data for touch interpreter 310 . Touch interpreter 310 evaluates any combination of one or more of context data, finger position, palm position, thumb position, and keyboard layout and responds to receiving touch data from touch detector 305 . to determine the operations and commands to be provided to the user interface generation unit 315 . Touch interpreter 310 may compare the received data to a rule set to determine the appropriate manipulation. Alternatively or additionally, touch interpreter 310 may utilize machine learning and/or neural networks to determine appropriate manipulations in response to touch data. In some implementations, the touch interpreter 310 is primarily located in the trackpad area and determines whether touches within the threshold distance of the spacebar are trackpad selections or spacebar selections. configured to determine whether

Based on the identified manipulation, touch interpreter 310 provides data identifying the manipulation to user interface generator 315 . User interface generator 315 updates the user interface based on the identified operation. For example, if this operation was a selection of the space bar, the user interface generator 315 advances the cursor. If this operation was a trackpad selection, the user interface generator 315 selects the object pointed to by the mouse pointer, moves the cursor to the location of the mouse pointer, or performs another appropriate operation.

In some implementations, the trackpad is configured to accept single and double clicks. A user may enter a single click by tapping in a space within the trackpad outline. A user may enter a double-click by tapping twice within a space within the trackpad outline. In some implementations, the portion of the touch input device within the outline of the trackpad may be a special click area that the user may enable to perform operations such as scrolling. In some implementations, the effective trackpad size may change during user input. Because touch input devices, including keyboards and trackpads, are smooth, continuous surfaces, the size of the effective trackpad area may be increased to allow users to drag outside the contours of the trackpad. For example, a user may select an object on the screen by double-tapping when the mouse pointer is positioned over the object. The user may keep the finger down at the end of the second tap and begin dragging the object. As the user initiates a drag motion, the effective trackpad area may expand to approximately fill the entire touch input device. While the user is dragging an object across the screen, the user's finger may move to the letter "k" key or another key. The letter 'k' key is not enabled because the size of the trackpad increases during the drag operation. Instead, the user continues to move the object even when the finger is outside the contour of the trackpad.

In some implementations, system 300 includes a privacy control module configured to regulate access to contextual data. The user may choose to configure the privacy control module so that the context identifier 335 does not consider certain types of information when determining context. For example, the user may select a setting that prevents the context identifier 335 from accessing background applications running on the system 300 when determining context. As another example, the user may select a setting that prevents context identifier 335 from using previous user input, such as keyed-in words, when determining context.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary process 400 for implementing a dynamic spacebar. In general, process 400 ensures that user input on or near the spacebar selects the spacebar, or is adjacent below the spacebar so that no other key is positioned between the trackpad and the spacebar. Determines whether the selection of the trackpad located at the Process 400 is described as being performed by a computer system including one or more computers, such as system 100 shown in FIG. 1, system 200 shown in FIG. 2, or system 300 shown in FIG.

A system with a touch keyboard and trackpad determines 410 the context of the system. In some implementations, touch keyboards and trackpads are identified by outlines shown on one touch input device. In some implementations, the display of the computing device and the touch input device are separate. For example, the display and touch input device may be connected by a hinge. In some implementations, the keyboard includes an image of the spacebar. In some implementations the display is a touch input device. In some implementations, the system determines that context is an incomplete word in front of the cursor. For example, the cursor may be positioned after "ove". In some implementations, the system determines context to be a complete or incomplete word before the cursor. For example, the cursor may be positioned after "jump".

The system accepts touch input on the trackpad (420). In some implementations, the system determines that the context of the system is that the touch input is a tap input. A tap input may be a user touching a touch surface with a finger and releasing the finger for a short period of time, such as 1 millisecond. In some implementations, touch input may be received by the trackpad at the location outlined below the spacebar. A trackpad may be adjacent and under the spacebar. In some implementations, the system determines that the context of the system is that the user's finger is touching the home key of the keyboard. In some implementations, the system determines that the user's palm is in contact with a palm rest located on one side of the trackpad to be the system's context.

The system identifies (430) the touch input on the trackpad as a selection of the spacebar on the touch keyboard based on the system's pre-determined context. In some implementations, the system identifies a touch input as a spacebar selection based on the complete word before the cursor. In some implementations, the system identifies the touch input as a spacebar selection (e.g., as opposed to an input that drags at least the determined distance) also based on the touch input being a tap input. . In some implementations, the system identifies the touch input as a spacebar selection based on the user's finger touching the home key. In some implementations, the system identifies the touch input as a spacebar selection based on the user's palm resting on the palm rest.

In some implementations, the system identifies the touch input as a spacebar selection based on a combination of contexts. For example, the context may be that the cursor is at the end of a complete or incomplete word, such as "jump." In this example, the system determines that touch input is spacebar selection based on the user's finger contacting the home key and/or based on the user's palm resting on the palm rest. It may be specified that there is In some implementations, the type of touch input combined with the cursor at the end of a complete or incomplete word (e.g., tap, long press, drag, etc.) is either a spacebar selection or There may not be enough data to determine if it is a trackpad selection. For example, each context may be associated with a corresponding score, and each of the scores for the various contexts may be weighted and then summed to determine if the resulting score exceeds a threshold. . At this threshold, an input will be determined to be a spacebar input even if it touches the touch surface at a location outside the area where the spacebar is displayed.

In some implementations, the system may base touch input identification on the subset of the user's fingers that are located on the home key. For example, if six of the user's eight fingers are located on the home key, the system may interpret that the user's finger is effectively on the home key. In some implementations, six keys or another number of keys may include a specific home key. For example, the fingers of the left hand are on the "asdf" key and two of the fingers of the right hand are on the home key for the system to interpret that the user's fingers are effectively on the home key. In some implementations, some number of home keys and/or specific home keys may be selected by user preference.

The system provides an indication of the spacebar selection based on the system's identification of the touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection (440) for output to the display. For example, the system may advance the cursor. In some implementations, touch input may be a long press or drag, or another type of touch surface gesture that initiates a different operation than a touch input operation. In this example, the system may not perform touch surface gesture manipulations.

In some implementations, the system accepts additional touch input on the trackpad. The system may determine that the word prefix in front of the cursor is the system's context. In this example, the system may determine that selecting a trackpad within a threshold distance of the spacebar is selecting a trackpad. Since the user is unlikely to select the spacebar if the word is incomplete, the system may determine that the touch input is a trackpad selection.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example computing device 500 and mobile computing device 550 that can be utilized to implement the techniques described herein. Computing device 500 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other suitable computers. Mobile computing device 550 is intended to represent various forms of mobile equipment such as personal digital assistants, cell phones, smart phones, and other similar computing devices. The components, their connections and relationships, and their functions shown herein are exemplary only and not limiting.

Computing device 500 includes processor 502 , memory 504 , storage device 506 , high speed interface 508 connecting memory 504 and multiple high speed expansion ports 510 , and low speed interface 512 connecting low speed expansion port 514 and storage device 506 . and Each of processor 502, memory 504, storage device 506, high speed interface 508, high speed expansion port 510, and low speed interface 512 are connected to each other using various buses and may be implemented on a common motherboard; Or it may be appropriately implemented by other methods. Processor 502 is capable of processing instructions for execution within computing device 500 , where the instructions are graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 51 coupled to high speed interface 508 . includes instructions stored in memory 504 or instructions stored on storage device 506 for displaying the . In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be utilized, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices may be connected (eg, as a server bank, blade server cluster, or multi-processor system, etc.) each providing part of the required operations.

Memory 504 stores information within computing device 500 . In some implementations, memory 504 is one or more volatile storage devices. In some implementations, memory 504 is one or more non-volatile storage devices. Memory 504 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.

Storage device 506 may provide mass storage for computing device 500 . In some implementations, storage device 506 may be a floppy disk drive, hard disk drive, optical disk drive, or tape drive, flash memory or other similar solid-state memory device, or a storage area network or other configuration. It may be or include a computer-readable medium, such as an array of devices, including the devices contained in a. Instructions may be stored on the information carrier. The instructions, when executed by one or more processing units (eg, processor 502), perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The instructions may also be stored by one or more storage devices, such as computer-readable media or machine-readable media (eg, memory 504, storage device 506, or memory on processor 502).

High-speed interface 508 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for computing device 500, and low-speed interface 512 manages much of the lower bandwidth-intensive operations. This allocation of functionality is exemplary only. In some implementations, high speed interface 508 is coupled to memory 504 , display 516 (eg, through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high speed expansion port 510 . High-speed expansion port 510 may accept various expansion cards. In this implementation, low speed interface 512 is coupled to storage device 506 and low speed expansion port 514 . Low-speed expansion port 514, which can include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet), supports one or more input/output devices such as keyboards, pointing devices, scanners, or , to network devices such as switches or routers, for example, through network adapters.

Computing device 500 may be embodied in a number of different forms as shown. For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 520, or often a group of such servers. Additionally, it may be implemented on a personal computer, such as laptop computer 522 . It may also be implemented as part of the rack server system 524 . Alternatively, the components of computing device 500 may be combined with other components included in mobile equipment, such as mobile computing device 550 . Each such device may include one or more of computing device 500 and mobile computing device 550, and the overall system may consist of multiple computing devices communicating with each other.

Mobile computing device 550 includes, among other things, processor 552 , memory 564 , input/output devices such as display 554 , communication interface 566 , and transceiver 568 . Mobile computing device 550 may also be provided with storage, such as a microdrive or other device for providing additional storage. Processor 552, memory 564, display 554, communication interface 566, and transceiver 568 are each connected together using various buses, some of which are mounted on a common motherboard. or implemented in other ways as appropriate.

Processor 552 can execute instructions within mobile computing device 550 , including instructions stored in memory 564 . Processor 552 may be implemented as a chipset of chips containing separate analog and digital processors. Processor 552 enables coordination among other components of mobile computing device 550, such as, for example, control of the user interface, applications executed by mobile computing device 550, and wireless communications by mobile computing device 550. may

Processor 552 may communicate with a user through control interface 558 and display interface 556 coupled to display 554 . The display 554 may be, for example, a Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display (TFT) display or an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display, or other suitable display technology. Display interface 556 may include suitable circuitry for driving display 554 to present graphical and other information to a user. Control interface 558 may accept commands from a user and translate them for submission to processor 552 . In addition, external interface 562 may provide communication with processor 552 to enable mobile computing device 550 to communicate with other devices in close proximity. External interface 562 may allow, for example, wired communication in some implementations and wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may be utilized.

Memory 564 stores information within mobile computing device 550 . Memory 564 may be implemented as one or more of one or more computer-readable media, one or more volatile storage devices, or one or more non-volatile storage devices. Expansion memory 574 may also be provided and connected to mobile computing device 550 through expansion interface 572 . Expansion interface 572 may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface. Extended memory 574 may provide additional storage space for mobile computing device 550 or may also store applications or other information for mobile computing device 550 . Specifically, expansion memory 574 may include instructions for performing or assisting in the processes described above, and may also include secure information. Thus, for example, expansion memory 574 may be provided as a security module for mobile computing device 550 and may be programmed with instructions that enable secure use of mobile computing device 550 . In addition to this, secure applications may be provided through the SIMM card with additional information, such as placing identity information on the SIMM card in a way that cannot be hacked.

The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory (non-volatile RAM) as described below. In some implementations the instructions are stored on an information carrier. The instructions, when executed by one or more processing units (eg, processor 552), perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The instructions may also be stored by one or more storage devices, such as one or more computer-readable or machine-readable media (eg, memory 564, expansion memory 574, or memory on processor 552). In some implementations, the instructions may be received in a propagated signal via transceiver 568 or external interface 562, for example.

Mobile computing device 550 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 566 . Communication interface 566 may include digital signal processing circuitry, if desired. Communication interface 566 enables, among other things, GSM voice calls (Global System for Mobile communications), SMS (Short Message Service), EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service), or MMS messaging (Multimedia Messaging, Multimedia Messaging Service (DMA)). Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), CDMA2000, or various protocols such as GPRS (General Packet or General Packet Mode) Rad can enable communication. Such communication may occur, for example, by means of transceiver 568 utilizing radio frequencies. Additionally, near field communication may occur, such as by using Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiving devices. In addition, additional navigation-related or location-related wireless data may be provided to mobile computing device 550 by Global Positioning System (GPS) receiving module 570 . Additional navigation-related or location-related wireless data may be utilized by applications running on mobile computing device 550 as appropriate.

Mobile computing device 550 may also use audio codec 560 to communicate by voice. Audio codec 560 may receive audio information from a user and convert it into usable digital information. Similarly, audio codec 560 may generate sounds for the user, such as through a speaker in a handset of mobile computing device 550, for example. Such sounds may include sounds from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sounds (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.), and may also include sounds generated by applications running on the mobile computing device 550. may contain.

Mobile computing device 550 may be implemented in a number of different forms as shown. For example, it may be implemented as a mobile phone 580 . It may also be implemented as part of a smart phone 582, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described herein may be digital electronic circuits, integrated circuits, specially designed application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or It can be realized by a combination. These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system. The system comprises at least one programmable processor, which may be a special purpose processor or a general purpose processor, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device, wherein the processor transmits and receives data and instructions. To do so, it is coupled to a storage system, at least one or more input devices, and at least one or more output devices.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications, or code) contain machine instructions for programmable processors, are in high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming languages, and/or It can be implemented in assembly language/machine language. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to instructions to a programmable processor, including any machine-readable medium that accepts machine instructions as machine-readable signals. and/or any computer program product, apparatus, and/or device (eg, magnetic disk, optical disk, memory, Programmable Logic Device (PLD)) used to provide data. The term "machine-readable signal" refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

To enable interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described herein include a display device (e.g., cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a can be implemented on a computer with a keyboard and pointing device (eg, mouse or trackball) that allows input to the computer. Other types of devices may also be used to enable user interaction, e.g., the feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual, auditory, or tactile feedback). Possibly, input from the user may be received in any form, such as acoustic input, voice input, tactile input, and the like.

The systems and techniques described herein include computer systems with back-end components (e.g., as data servers), computer systems with middleware components (e.g., application servers), front-end components (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or web browser that enables users to interact with implementations of the systems and techniques described herein; or any such back-end, middleware, or front-end components; Any combination of The components of the system can be connected together by any form or medium of digital data communication (eg, a communication network). Communication networks include local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), the Internet, and the like.

The computer system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server is established by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

Although some implementation details have been given above, other modifications are possible. For example, although a client application has been described as accessing a delegate(s), in other implementations, the delegate(s) may be a single entity, such as an application running on one or more servers. It may also be employed by other applications implemented by the above processors. Additionally, the logic flow depicted in the figures need not be sequential or in the particular order shown to achieve desired results. In addition, other operations may be provided in the described flows, operations may be eliminated, and other components may be added or deleted from the described systems. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (18)

A computer-implemented method comprising:
A computing device including a touch keyboard and a trackpad includes determining a context of said computing device, wherein determining a context of said computing device determines that a complete word precedes a cursor position. including the step of determining
accepting touch input on the trackpad;
The touch input on the trackpad by the computing device based on a pre-determined context of the computing device and further based on determining that a complete word is in front of the cursor. is the touch keyboard spacebar selection;
providing an indication of the spacebar selection based on the computing device identifying the touch input on the trackpad as the spacebar selection for output to a display of the computing device. and a method. determining the context of the computing device includes determining that the touch input on the trackpad is a tap operation rather than a drag operation;
The step of identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a selection of the space bar of the touch keyboard further comprises determining that the touch input on the trackpad is a tap operation rather than a drag operation. 2. The method of claim 1 , based on. determining the context of the computing device includes determining that a user's finger is touching a predetermined number of home keys of the touch keyboard;
Identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection of the touch keyboard further comprises touching the predetermined number of home keys of the touch keyboard with the user's finger. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 , based on determining that Determining the context of the computing device includes determining that a user's palm on one side of the trackpad is touching a portion of the touch keyboard;
Identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection of the touch keyboard further comprises identifying a portion of the touch keyboard touched by the user's palm on one side of the trackpad. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , which is based on judging. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the touch keyboard and the trackpad are identified by outlines shown on the touch input device. 6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the display of the computing device and the touch input device are separate. the touch keyboard draws an image of the spacebar;
A method according to any preceding claim, wherein accepting the touch input on the trackpad comprises rejecting the touch input at a location within the rendered spacebar image. 8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the rendered spacebar image is adjacent and under the touch keyboard. determining further context of the computing device;
accepting further touch input on the trackpad;
said computing device identifying said further touch input on said trackpad as a selection of said trackpad based on said further context;
displaying a selection of the trackpad based on the computing device identifying the further touch input on the trackpad as selecting the trackpad for output to the display of the computing device. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , comprising the step of providing accepting another touch input on the spacebar;
the further touch input on the spacebar being the selection of the trackpad based on the computing device identifying the further touch input on the trackpad as the selection of the trackpad; a step of identifying;
selection of the trackpad based on the computing device identifying the another touch input on the spacebar as selection of the trackpad for output to the display of the computing device. and providing further indications . determining the additional context of the computing device includes determining that a prefix of a word is in front of the cursor;
11. The step of identifying the further touch input on the trackpad as a trackpad selection is further based on determining that a word prefix is in front of the cursor. Method. based on receiving the touch input on the trackpad and based on the computing device identifying the touch input on the trackpad as the selection of the spacebar, to a trackpad gesture. 12. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , comprising the step of not performing the associated operation. one or more computers;
and one or more storage devices storing instructions, said instructions being operable to cause said one or more computers to perform an action when executed by said one or more computers, said action comprising: ,
A computing device that includes a touch keyboard and trackpad includes determining a context of the computing device , wherein determining the context of the computing device includes determining that a complete word precedes a cursor position. including the step of determining
accepting touch input on the trackpad;
The touch input on the trackpad by the computing device based on a pre-determined context of the computing device and further based on determining that a complete word is in front of the cursor. is the touch keyboard spacebar selection;
providing an indication of the spacebar selection based on the computing device identifying the touch input on the trackpad as the spacebar selection for output to a display of the computing device. a system, including: Determining the context of the computing device includes determining that the touch input on the trackpad is a tap operation rather than a drag operation;
Identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a selection of the space bar of the touch keyboard further includes determining that the touch input on the trackpad is a tap operation rather than a drag operation. 14. The system of claim 13 , based on. Determining the context of the computing device includes determining that a user's finger is touching a predetermined number of home keys of the touch keyboard;
Identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a selection of the spacebar of the touch keyboard further comprises touching the predetermined number of home keys of the touch keyboard with the user's finger. 15. A system according to any one of claims 13 or 14 , based on determining that Determining the context of the computing device includes determining that a user's palm on one side of the trackpad is touching a portion of the touch keyboard;
Identifying the touch input on the trackpad as a spacebar selection of the touch keyboard further identifies a portion of the touch keyboard touched by the user's palm on one side of the trackpad. A system according to any one of claims 13 to 15 , based on determining. The system of any one of claims 13-16 , wherein the touch keyboard and the trackpad are identified by outlines shown on the touch input device. A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 .

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